Chapter Text
"The results of your mission are beyond anything that we anticipated."
Aurora skims over the summary of the mission report in her hands one more time. Part of her still has a hard time believing the numbers and the long list of supplies she sees, all confiscated from a single operation.
"Then why am I here?" comes the reply from the soldier in front of her. He sounds almost bored, and she puts down the report before looking at him.
She knows he is sharp and not at all wrong to wonder. Praise and commendations are usually bestowed in public, a private call to a commanding officer far often means a reprimand. As it does today.
"I think you know the reason for that, Pilus," she says, a tad sharper now. Perhaps Aurora would be in a more forgiving mood if this had been the first instance of him stepping over the line and adding one of his undoubtedly creative plans to ongoing operations without clearing it up with her in advance, but it isn't by far.
"My results speak for themselves, I believe," he replies, and while there is no fault to be found in his words, his tone leaves no doubt about what he is thinking.
"Results aren't all that is important," Aurora points out, and she can see a small twitch on his lips before he draws in a deep breath.
"Permission to speak freely, Legatus?"
Something tells her she is going to regret this, and at the same time, she knows it would be good to hear what he has to say, to at least try to see his point of view, and with a short nod, she agrees, "Permission granted."
"Results are the only thing that is important, the only clearly quantifiable measure of success. Success that has eluded our legion in the past month. I sought to rectify that. I should not be standing here waiting for a lecture. I should be out there planning the next operation."
Solus rem Galvus is always strangely calm when he speaks, but at the same time, his conviction is undeniable. A combination that has managed to try Aurora's patience more than once.
"I disagree." She forces herself to stay equally as calm, her eyes narrowing at him as she motions at the report. "According to this, there were numerous instances where a single mistake could have not only threatened the entire mission but gotten your whole unit captured. What you did was reckless and not even close to the original plan."
"I saw an opportunity, so I made a new one," he replies, holding her gaze with something akin to a challenge. "And I know my men, they don't make mistakes like that, I knew I could trust them to pull that off. Perhaps something for you to consider, trusting the people you send somewhere to know how to do their jobs."
She can barely keep herself from gasping sharply at the sheer disrespect in his voice at the last few words aimed at her.
"You can't just throw plans overboard when you feel like it, Pilus, " she replies sharply, her hand coming down on her desk a little bit more forceful than intended, but he doesn't even flinch. Instead, he... smiles? No, that would sound far too pleasant. The look on Solus rem Galvus' face is more akin to a sneer as his sharp eyes narrow.
"Perhaps if everyone with even basic strategic skills did so more often, we'd actually get somewhere in this campaign instead of constantly taking an approach so careful it borders on cowardice."
For a brief moment, Aurora is almost stunned. No one talks to her like this, especially not someone several ranks below her, someone under her command. Aurora van Manius, legatus of the Garlean Republic's Third Legion, is not someone anyone would mistake for being kind, approachable, or even the slightest bit forgiving. The people in her legion fear her. At best, they have a carefully guarded respect for their leader. She knows they call her the ice queen behind her back, and if she is honest, that is exactly how she likes it. Not coming from a noble house, Aurora had to fight tooth and nail to gain the respect of her fellow officers, working twice as hard to get even half the opportunities for advancement as her noble-born colleagues. She didn't get to the rank she is now without fighting hard for her entire career, but by forcing people not to mess with her.
Except for this man, it seems. And not for the first time. Though to be fair, in his previous moments of almost disobeying orders, he had toed the line, not outright walked all over it like he has done now.
He hadn't always been like this, that she knows. Not for the first time does she wonder what happened to the almost a little too nice, mild-mannered man that had slowly worked his way up through her legion. Perhaps the last promotion had finally gone to his head.
She knows her moment of hesitation has just been a tad too long when his sneer widens. It does the trick in letting her throw off her bewilderment and turn it into anger.
"You seem to forget who you are talking to, Pilus," she says with a sharp emphasis on his rank. Her demeanor turns cold, and her voice hardens. "Consider yourself warned, no more spur-of-the-moment change of plans without official sanction." She knows her eyes are shooting daggers by now as she adds a sharp, "Dismissed!"
For a moment, he simply keeps looking at her, not intimidated at all. He seems almost cocky as he raises his arm to a salute. It's perfectly executed, but with a little flourish that makes it seem undeniably mocking before he turns on his heel and exits her tent without another word, leaving her stirring in her anger.
It stays on her mind the whole evening. Normally, Aurora has no trouble pushing annoying things aside in her time off but not after this. Her evening is far from relaxing when in her mind, she goes over that conversation again and again. She should have put him more on the spot, she knows. The level of disrespect from a soldier under her command is inexcusable, but she had been thrown off by the sheer audacity he displayed. It won't happen again, Aurora decides just before falling asleep. If he ever pulls something like this again, she will be prepared.
The situation arises sooner than she would have expected. Only a couple of days later, he does it again. Scraps a well-made plan far out in the field for some daring assault on a small enemy outpost he was only supposed to observe. Aurora gnashes her teeth as he returns, his whole cohort celebrating him for the undeniable, strategically important victory.
It is a huge blow to their enemy, and a great boon for them to control that specific region, Aurora can admit as much. Taking that outpost had been a long-term goal, but once more, Solus rem Galvus has ignored direct orders, and that is not something she can let stand. In front of the soldiers, she congratulates him on the victory. She knows their men need this, need to celebrate every triumph they can get in this arduous and long campaign, but she cites him to her tent for a reprimand in a quiet hiss under her breath regardless.
Unlike last time, Aurora doesn't let him talk, nor is she trying to resolve the situation peacefully anymore. Her eyes are hard as steel, her voice more than a little cold as she dresses him down.
"I gave you a warning before, soldier," she nearly hisses toward the end. "This is the last one, one more step out of line, and I promise you, you won't like the consequences."
She knows most of the soldiers under her command downright fear her, and not without reason. Aurora hasn't gotten where she is by being nice. It had cost blood, sweat, and tears, and most of all, a very specific combination of adhering to the rules precisely so no one could find any fault with her behavior and a complete ruthlessness in battle. Those who've seen her fight even once swear they never want to face her on any opposing side.
Unlike everyone else under her command, Solus rem Galvus doesn't show even a hint of unease in her presence. Instead, he looks almost disinterested when she is done, and while he had stood at attention before, his stance relaxes as he blatantly looks her over.
"Are you done, Legatus? " he drawls, sounding bored enough to stoke her anger.
"You would do well to watch your tone in the presence of your superior," she says coldly, and something in Solus' eyes sparks.
"I shall endeavor to do so if I should ever find myself in that position," he replies, his brows once more raised in a clear challenge. "Now, unless you want to lock me up for bringing home the most strategically important victory in months, I'll consider myself dismissed."
Once more, his audacity throws her off enough, so it takes her a few seconds to react. Seconds, in which he has already turned away from her. She is tempted to force him to stay out of sheer principle, but on the other hand, she desperately wants this man and his infuriating personality gone.
"You have been warned, Pilus," she says instead, relieved that she manages to keep her voice calm and collected for now. "I don't give indefinite warnings, now get out of my sight."
It's another night she falls asleep still fuming, and part of her is glad when he keeps out of her way the next day. She finds out in the early afternoon to what she owes that bit of luck when she walks past the training area and sees him in the ring instructing someone. There is a crowd of soldiers around them, looking on, some in full gear, some looking a bit beaten up, and she can see that this is an ongoing training exercise. He seems to have been at it for a while, the person he fights is in full armor, but Solus' chest plate and undershirt lie somewhere on the side.
Her first instinct is to turn around and leave him to his devices, but something about the way he effortlessly moves catches her eye, and she makes sure she stands behind a few people, looking on from afar.
Not for the first time, she wonders how this man could have changed so much in maybe less than a year. She has to admit she never paid all that much attention to individual soldiers in the lower ranks, but she does distinctively remember that the Galvus heir seemed to treat the military more than an afterthought than his destiny when he first joined her legion.
'Someone for the administration, maybe a future quartermaster, but he will never be a frontline soldier. The man is far too laid back and more interested in books than in battles,' her former Pilus had advised when going through the recruits, but something has obviously changed.
The man she's watching now seems like a born fighter. He is toned, not overly bulky, but his muscles speak of rigorous training that goes beyond standard exercise. He swings a giant, two-handed sword like it weighs absolutely nothing. There is an ease, a fluidity to his movement that makes her think of the grace of far older, more seasoned warriors. He can't be older than she is, though, making it undoubtedly impressive that he can hold himself like that.
He spends maybe fifteen, at maximum twenty minutes on each soldier he trains with, and the lessons, while short, seem to hit their mark. Aurora can practically see each one improve in front of her eyes when he barks orders and corrections at them and forces them to put them into practice right away. There is a calm sense of thoughtfulness behind his style of fighting as well, far removed from anything she feels when she's on the battlefield. He looks dispassionate, concentrated, like he's already gone through every possible outcome.
When Aurora fights, she doesn't think much about what she is doing at all. She lets instinct take over, mowing through her enemies until she's the only one left standing. It has served her well. In fact, it is most of the reason she got her command.
Because she survives.
She's the one left standing when everyone around her is forced to concede, the one winning her battles through sheer force of will. She knows that people regularly compare her to a wild animal, bloodthirsty and indomitable.
She has the scars to remind her of the many times she has cheated death, one running right across her face.
Solus rem Galvus looks like he's never crawled through the dirt and fought himself into bloody exhaustion in his life. He's been training recruits for hours, and yet his armor is spotless, and he looks barely out of breath.
He fights like he makes his battle plans, the ones she hates so much for the fact alone that he never runs them by her beforehand. Precision above all, calculated steps, calculated risks, everything seems meticulously prepared. Aurora pauses, realizing that she hates the fact that his shirt- and effortless fighting is pleasing to watch, that she catches her own eyes wandering.
Aurora doesn't let herself look at other people all that much. They are a distraction, something she could never afford in her neverending fight for her place at the table. Relying on others comes with far too many risks, and the mere idea of being vulnerable in any sort of way in front of someone else has always smothered any urges she might feel to change that right away. It doesn't mean she can't appreciate someone this good-looking every now and then, even if he tries to be the bane of her existence lately.
She snorts at the thought that perhaps the only reason she can admit that he is reasonably attractive right now is the fact that he isn't actually talking to her. She certainly didn't think so when he annoyed her to no end in her tent.
After another twenty minutes of watching, Aurora decides that this has been enough distraction from her work for the day. As she's about to turn away, she sees him looking in her direction. There are people between them, but for a second, she feels as if his eyes are on her, and with an annoyed huff, she leaves the training area behind.
There is enough to do to make sure her legion keeps being a well-oiled machine that it is easy to ignore everything, everyone else, for the rest of the day. There are orders to review, things to sign, and plans to make. She manages to banish all thoughts that aren't about her work so well that when she returns to the large tent they use for planning and strategizing from a small break for a late dinner, she doesn't notice right away that it isn't empty.
"Not on your guard at all, Legatus?" comes Solus' voice from behind her, and Aurora whirls around, hand already going for her weapon until the fact that it's him catches up with her. He sits lazily in one of the chairs for her advisors, one leg propped up across the armrest.
"Who let you in here?" she barks, but like usual, he doesn't seem to care what tone she takes as he simply shrugs.
"Your guard, of course," he says. "I'm here on strictly official business, after all."
"On official business?" she replies skeptically, stepping over to the war table as Solus nods.
Lazily, he gets up, walking over and holding out a folded piece of paper.
"You don't want any more unsanctioned new plans? Here you go, sanction it in advance then, it will save us the useless dressing down after if you sign off on it beforehand."
He sounds so cocky again that Aurora has the urge to slap the paper out of his hand on principle, but his tone aside, this is exactly what she demanded of him, after all, and with a grim look, she takes it, unfolding it and scanning its contents.
It's another plan to annex a settlement not that far east of them. A small settlement but one rich in resources. Resources they could absolutely use.
"You think you can do this with only a handful of men?" she asks with a frown as she reaches the end of his proposal, and when she looks up, he lets out an arrogant snort.
"I know I can do this," he states, eyes narrowing. "Don't misunderstand me, Legatus," he tells her, putting a little bit too much emphasis on her title to still sound polite. "I am going to take this settlement, with or without your approval. I am just giving you the courtesy to sign off on it now to save yourself the humiliation of having your orders ignored again in favor of something better than anything you could come up with."
Any shred of goodwill she could have mustered for this plan, which she has to admit actually does sound promising, evaporates on the spot.
"You just had to dig yourself in deeper," she gets out between clenched teeth. "Have you no common sense?"
"Common sense is wildly overrated," Solus states with a shrug before he raises his bros and adds coldly, "Someone has to remind you of reality sometimes, Legatus."
Each time he uses her title in that obvious voice of disrespect, it sends another bout of anger through Aurora.
"And what reality, pray tell, is that?"
Solus' eyes narrow, and he takes a step closer.
"You're a bruiser, a bloodthirsty menace on the battlefield, but you are no strategist," he says in a low voice. "Everyone knows you got your command for being very good at chopping people's heads off. While that may win you a battle, it is hardly the qualification needed to win an actual war."
While it is true that strategy is hardly her strongest suit, Aurora detests few things more than people reducing her to little more than a mindless fighter. She has worked too long and too hard to get where she is now, and she did it all with the odds against her every damn time. She squares her shoulders, and if looks alone could kill, hers would have burned him to ashes where he stands.
"I earned my position, soldier."
Once more, Solus simply shrugs.
"You did," he says, sounding surprisingly agreeable before he suddenly takes another step toward her, leaning in uncomfortably close. "I will take great pleasure in taking it from you sometime in the not-so-far future," he murmurs, a devious smile on his lips now. " The time for people like you at the top is over, but don't you worry, whenever a plan calls for the mindless slaughter of the masses, I'll keep you in mind."
She can barely fathom the sheer gall this man has talking to her like that, and it takes her every ounce of effort that she has to not punch him right in the face.
"That will be very hard to do once I demote you back to foot soldier for insubordination," Aurora hisses instead.
"Demote me?" If anything, he leans even closer, an uncomfortably pleasant expression on his face. "I'd like to see you try."
She snarls at him.
"You may have slept through any lessons on respecting authority, but I still am your commanding officer."
Solus' eyes gleam before he throws his head back and outright laughs.
"I'm a Galvus, my dear. Remind me what meaning and pull the name Manius has outside the trenches?" he asks sweetly, only for his smile to turn sharp. "Oh, right, it bathes in insignificance. You can try your best, of course, but we both know nothing will happen to me."
Aurora is furious by now. Her eyes blazing, and one of her hands balling into a fist as she grinds her teeth, knowing that he isn't completely wrong about this. The fact that she comes from nothing, not even the poorest noble family but a commoner with no sway and no titles to her family's name, is what made it so incredibly difficult for her to rise through the ranks in the first place. Every step had been an uphill battle. By now, having made it to the very top, she had hoped to be past all that, but she knows the games being played behind closed doors and at far too expensive dinner parties. If the right person, with just the right sway, complains, it might just get them the High Legatus on their side, and even being at the top of her own legion might not be enough sway for someone like her if it stands against the interest of an old noble house.
"Oh, that anger in your eyes is delicious," Solus murmurs at that moment. "And so fiery for someone they call the ice queen. I wonder, is it simply there because you hate me?" he asks before his eyes narrow, and the cocky grin returns as he adds, "Or is it because you can't really decide if you want to kill me where I stand or fuck me until you forget your own name?"
"What?" She draws in a sharp sigh, burning with anger. "How dare you!"
"Please," Solus simply waves her anger aside. "I saw you looking earlier, my dear. A blind man could read that expression." He takes a small step back, letting his eyes wander over her in the most blatantly obvious way. "Might as well give either one a try, you look like you could be decent at both."
This time her fist is faster than any rational thought could hold her back, and she can't help but smile a little at the very satisfying sound of bone hitting bone, only lightly cushioned by thin layers of skin when it collides with his face. His head snaps back for a moment, and he staggers, but even then, he doesn't look all that surprised, still grinning at her with his now split lip.
"A bloodthirsty menace indeed." Solus spits some blood to the floor before his challenging eyes are on her again. "Hardly better than the savages we wage war against, I would say."
And before she can answer, he actually hits back. For a second, all air leaves her as his fist collides with her stomach, making her double over, wheezing from a punch she has to admit she didn't expect at all. Pain rushes through her, but it only spurs her on further, and Aurora draws in a deep breath as she straightens up.
"So we're settling it this way then," she growls, eyes falling to his weapon before she makes a decision. Calmly, she undoes the belt holding hers and throws it to the side, making it clear that this duel will be unarmed, and with a smile that looks almost like approval, Solus does the same, discarding his weapon before he takes up a stance ready for combat.
"Let's see what you got then, Legatus," he taunts. "Who knows, perhaps you can punch the obedience you so desperately want into me in the end."
Aurora highly doubts that, but it doesn't even matter. Right now, she will gladly settle for breaking some bones, maybe causing enough hurt to teach at least some lesson, and with a low growl, she charges.